The Child
by HowIsTheDRAMAQUEEN
Summary: Sweets gives Booth and Brennan a high-schol like assignment. How will they react? Better story than summary, of course. Not deserving of its T rating in the prologue, but later...oh, later.
1. Chapter 1

**I know that this is going to be kind of like B. in the B., but I was rewatching it the other night, and figured, hey, what if Sweets made them do something like this for a month? So, here it is, the high school Health project! Y'all know I don't own Bones, so just forget it! Love and kisses, !**

Dr. Lance Sweets' announcement was met with blank stares from his patients. "Did you not understand the assignment? Perhaps I can help. You see, -"

"We understood," Booth replied dryly.

"Then, why aren't you saying or-"

"Because, Sweets!" Booth was now shouting. "Because who said to you, 'Hey, Booth and Bones have the time or even WANT to take care of an actual, living baby for a month!'? What makes you think that this isn't going to be like your whole double-date thing? Hmm?"

"Well, you've taken care of a child before."

"For a week, Dr. Sweets. That was just for a week. You're proposing that we look after the child for a month."

"True. But-"

"I HAVE MY OWN KID TO LOOK AFTER!" Booth thundered.

"Agent Booth, calm down. This is just a child. It will do everything that I'm sure Parker did, but this time you'll be around to witness it."

That got Booth sitting right back down. "But, why would we want to do this?"

"Terminated partnership ring a bell?"

"OKAY!" Both Booth and Brennan threw their hands in the air as a sign of surrender.

"But I feel like I'm in high school Health class again," Booth added.

**And now, I shall hypnotize you. You are getting veeeery sleepy. You are getting sooooo sleepy that when I say Booth, you will send me a review. Ready? Booth!**


	2. Chapter 2

**WOW, you guys! SEVEN reviews the first day! I totally have confidence in this! Yay! So, just curious, does watching Baby in the Bough make anyone else want to go cuddle a baby? You know, with all that I talk about it, I might be a good adverstiser, but I do not actually own Bones. Let us have a moment of silence for this. Okay, R/R. XOXO**

Sweets looked at Booth and Brennan. This was going to be exciting for him! He was forcing them outside their comfort zones, possibly to make them admit their not-very-well-hidden feelings for each other. After their reluctant consent, he launched into the details of the project.

"No, Agent Booth, it will not be like high school, because in high school, you cared for a baby doll, am I correct?"

"Well, how would I know? You did that project yesterday, didn't you?"

"Not appreciated, Agent Booth. And that was a rhetorical question, anyway. This time, it will be a human child that the two of you will care for. You will be allowed to choose the gender, of course, but not the name. You will not have to buy the clothing and food for the child, or the doctor bills. Treat this child as though it were your own.

"What's further, you will be staying in a house quite isolated from your friends and family."

"What family?" Brennan broke in angrily. "The murderers that make up mine? Or Booth's, who he never sees anyway?"

"ANYWAY, Doctor Brennan, you will be separated for the first three weeks from your friends. You and Agent Booth will only see the baby and each other."

"Wait. Does that mean I can't go to work?"

"Yes, Dr. Brennan, that is exactly what that means. Once a week, an agent will come and drop off groceries and some clothes, but other than that, you will be isolated. No phone, no computer."

"Oh. Well, you see, I'm not entirely sure that that's possible, because-"

"Agent Booth, it is entirely possible. Now, a friend of mine has been so kind as to bring two children in. One male, one female. Daisy?"

"Right here! Oh, these little things are so cute! They're just the most darlingest things I ever saw, aren't you?" The perky grad student began cooing to the two children in her arms.

"Booth! BOOTH!" hissed Brennan. "Booth, do you think we can do this?"

"Well, what other choice do we have, Bones? I mean, we can't let Sweets separate us."

"Okay, well, then, let's go with the girl."

"But I want the little man!"

"But…Booth! The girl, please?"

"Fine." His capitulation ended their whispered conversation, so he directed his next question to Sweets. "Sweets, what's the girl's name?"

"Oh, her name is Dana. Why? Have you come to a consensus?" **(A/N: If you know me in person, please say nothing about the name.)**

"Yes, we will care for the girl, Dana, for a month, in your isolated whatever-the-hell it is. But if you're just doing this to mess with our heads, then goddammit, Sweets, I will smash your head in."

"Booth, he messes with our heads for a living."

"I know that, Bones! God, Sweets, just take us to your little whatever-it-is."

"Come on!" Sweets cheerfully replied, leading them out the door, Daisy and the other baby staying behind.

**Ooh. Bones and Booth in a little secluded cottage with a baby. What will they do? *cough* fall in love *cough cough* Reviews welcome. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi, folks! I know, I know. Three chapters in one day! But I keep getting all these reviews! This is cool stuff! So, here's chapter three!  
Disclaimer: Why, people? WHY? WHY must you make me tell you that I don't own Bones? You just put me through agony!**

Sweets thought that he was a reasonable man. So when he pulled up in front of the cottage and told his patients to get out of the car, he didn't understand why they just stared at him with their jaws hitting the floor so hard that they bruised.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yes, Sweets. Something is wrong. This is a flippin' COTTAGE!" screeched Booth.

"Oh, actually, it's a 'charming, quaint cabin hidden well in the woodland, for your vacationing pleasure,' not a cottage."

"What manual did you just quote?" The insincere question came from a livid Brennan.

"Oh, no. It was in the email."

"Right," Booth and Brennan replied doubtfully.

"Okay, well, here's Dana, and the cabin's already stocked with food and clothes and diapers, and if you need anything, press this button," Sweets said, acting like a nervous mother and strapping a black band in each of their wrists.

Booth dramatically raised his middle finger, exhibited it for Sweets, and then used it to press the small red button on his wristband. A shrill beeping noise was suddenly emitted from a tiny bug near Sweets' ear.

"Right. I'll keep that in mind," he said calmly once Sweets had reset the device.

As Sweets drove off, he called out the window, "I'm going to drop in twice, unexpectedly, during the month!"

Booth turned to his partner and their new charge. "So…Bones, what do we do now?"

"Well, the baby –her name is Dana, right? - Dana is asleep, so I'm going to lay her down somewhere. You can do whatever you like."

"Good luck with that."

Brennan disappeared into the cabin with Dana, and Booth started taking a stroll around the grounds. He was directly next to a window when he all of a sudden heard a frantic whisper from the cabin, "Booth!"

"What, Bones?"

"There are only two bedrooms!"

"Right. Okay, what do we do a bout two bedrooms?"

"One has a crib; the other has an extremely big bed."

"Then we… put the baby in the room with the crib."

"I already did. What about the room with the big bed?"

"I think… wait, how big?"

"Come see."

So Booth walked into the cabin and down a hallway. At the end of the hallway, there were three doorways. Out of one shot a thin, pale arm. Brennan grabbed him and dragged him into the bedroom frantically. He was about to crack a joke when he saw it. The elephantine bed. He gave a funny delighted sound and sat down on the ground. After pulling off his shoes, he ran to the bed.

Brennan started to ask what he was doing when he crawled onto the bed. But instead of sleeping, Booth had something else in mind. He got to his feet and started bouncing slightly. When the bed didn't give, he started to spring up and down more violently. Soon, he was like a child, jumping up and down on the enormous bed. He beckoned his partner to join him, and she pulled off her shoes and did, bouncing up and down like a pro bed-jumper. They were laughing and laughing about it when all of a sudden, Brennan stopped. Frowning, she turned to Booth, who she had been doing some tango type jumping dance with seconds earlier.

"The baby. We'll wake the baby."

"You're right. Later."

"Definitely."

**Haha, shout if you could see Booth and Brennan jumping on a huge bed together! I've got this image going through my head!  
Oh, and to Different Child, no, Dana is not my name. But it's the name of a person I know, and everyone knows about her, so, that's why nobody was allowed to comment.  
So, y'all know I loooooooove yous, right? Okay, I'll love you even more if you review. And, hey, if you open that review box, you never know, you may get rewards. But no promises.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, my patient friends. I sat down and whipped out another chap. today. Only because I got eight more reviews. Are you guys noticing a pattern? Review=update! I know, it's kind of a dumb chapter, but I'm tired. It's my "Booth and Brennan reflect on their feelings but don't actually say much" chapter. I always do one. Um... what else? Oh, yeah. I know that it drops off really suddenly at the end. Not a good creative day. Sorry.  
I don't own Bones. Y'all know that. Sorry.**

"So…what do we do now?"

"Well, we could do one of two things. We could make dinner, which is probably good, or we could let that wait until we find it more pressing, which would be bad. I think. I have no experience whatsoever."

"Well, we should make dinner, then, shouldn't we, Bones?"

"I guess so. If that's what you want, because it doesn't have to be that way if you don't want it to, I guess. Unless that IS what you want, in which case, that is what we should do. Well, maybe not, because-" Booth kindly interrupted his partner before she ran herself of the cliff that she was rapidly approaching.

"Yeah. Let's make dinner, Bones."

"What should we make?"

"How about… mac and cheese?" he suggested slyly.

"Okay…"

"Okay! What do we need first?" Booth asked, as excited as a small child in the kitchen with his mommy.

"We need macaroni."

"Right! Macaroni, coming up!"

"Thank you," she said when he handed her the box of elbow macaroni.

"You're welcome!" came the overenthusiastic reply.

"And now we need…" As Brennan listed off the ingredients for her famous macaroni dish, Booth noticed something.

His partner was not just pretty. She wasn't even just beautiful. She was exceptionally gorgeous. And she had a certain light in her eyes when she felt secure that made Booth's heart swell like the Grinch's. And she always knew exactly what she was talking about. She never had to stutter her way through a misshapen sentence.

As Booth and Brennan did a dance of sorts around the petite kitchen, preparing dinner, Brennan contemplated Booth's movements. He was so sure, always so sure. And whenever she was with him, Brennan felt like she was totally safe, like nothing could get her, nothing could harm her. He was her partner, and he would never let anyone get her. He hadn't let Kenton get to her, or Wexler, however different the circumstances may have been. He wouldn't let the judge get her, he wouldn't say that she could have killed Deputy Director Kirby in front of a jury. He protected her, and what did she do in return? She couldn't think of anything.

Maybe the answer wasn't that she was bad at loving. Maybe it wasn't that she didn't love enough, and so they left. Maybe the answer was that she loved too much, and people ran away. Maybe she attached herself to people too willingly, and that was why she couldn't take it when they ran away again. Because they always ran away. She had never loved someone who had stayed around. Even Zack had left. And while Angela was still around, it was a different Angela.

But Booth stuck around. He had been around so long. He would have to be leaving soon. She knew it. She loved him too much. He would abandon her. Like everyone else had, he would leave. This terrible thought made a tear roll down her face, and then another, and soon she was silently sobbing.

Booth, nticing his partner's tears, abandoned the cheese sauce he was stirring, and walked over, wrapping his arms around her tenderly. The gesture seemed to make her cry harder.

**So...Let's say if I make it to thirty reviews, I'll update. I know, I know. WHAT HAPPENS? You have to review to find out. Mwahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Por favor, review??**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry sorry sorry. I've been away and couldn't check my email. I only just saw all the reviews. I love you guys to death, here's the admission of love and changing a diaper. Don't own Bones. Why, do you?**

"Bones, what's wrong? What happened?" Booth asked, concerned.

"No-nothing," Brennan hiccupped. She drew a deep breath before she continued. "Nothing's wrong, I just…I guess something got to me, is all." Her attempt at a smile failed miserably, but slightly reassured Booth that she would be okay.

"What? What got to you?" he asked gently.

"Well, everyone who –no, never mind. It doesn't matter."

"No. It matters a lot. It made you cry. It matters."

"Everyone who I've ever cared about has left me and you're probably going to leave me too because I really care about I ay even love you but you don't know that and so you're just going to leave like everyone else!" Brennan sobbed in a rush.

"No, Bones," Booth replied forcefully but gently. "No. I couldn't leave if I tried. I couldn't hurt you if I wanted to. I love you."

"What?"

"Listen to me, Bones." He tilted her chin so that she was looking at him. "I. Love. You. More than anything in the world, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Oh. Really?"

"Really." And with that, she was swept into the most romantic kiss of her life.

Five minutes later, when they reluctantly pulled away, Brennan heard the baby in the other room.

"OH! I'd better go take care of her." And she rushed off, leaving Booth and his thoughts alone.

'Wow. That was…really sexy. I love her.'

When Brennan walked into the makeshift nursery, Dana was on the floor sobbing her little baby tears. Picking her up, Brennan realized that her diaper was a mess.

"HEY, BOOTH! I THINK SHE NEEDS A NEW DIAPER!"

"Then change it, Bones!"

"But… I don't know how!"

With a sigh, Booth walked into the room and relieved his confused partner of the baby-holding duties. Laying the child down on the bed, he pulled a diaper off the nearby table. He grabbed some baby wipes off another surface and put one hand on the baby's chest. Turning to Brennan, he said wearily, "This is how you change a diaper, Bones."

Together, they slid the new diaper underneath Dana. Cleaning up the mess turned out to be the easy part. Getting Dana to stop kicking so that she could fasten the new diaper was the part Brennan disliked and found difficult. After the diaper changing, Brennan seemed fatigued.

Suddenly a timer dinged. "Dinnertime, Bones!" Booth cried.

**Review, por favor. No promises, but it just might help.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys. I know I've been away forever. But I haven't had any inspiration. So today I sat down and forced myself to type somethnig. So ,that's why it's most likely crap. Sorry. Love you though! Don't own Bones. Whoops!**

In the kitchen, Brennan pulled a pot off the stove. She had an impulse to twirl around to move across the tiny kitchen, and for once, she followed it. Booth, standing in the doorway with Dana, laughed. He whispered to the child, "That Auntie Tempe's a silly one, isn't she?"

Brennan heard him and spun around, pot still in hand. She flushed bright pink with embarrassment. "Oh! Booth! I…I didn't realize you were standing there! I, um, I, uh…" She trailed off with an embarrassed smile.

"Hey, don't defend yourself to me. I thought it was cute," he grinned.

"Oh. Um. Well. Then. Hm. Dinnertime!" she cried brightly, desperate to change the subject.

"Okay, Bones."

Brennan placed two plates of macaroni and cheese on the table, still flustered. Then she walked to the small pantry. She pulled out a canister of baby formula and filled a small bottle with it. She added water from the sink, and then capped the bottle. She shook the piece of plastic rather violently, channeling all of her emotion from the past hour into the preparation of Dana's dinner.

"Whoa, Bones, don't you think the bottle as had enough? What'd it ever do to you?" Booth teased, making Brennan blush again. He loved that blush.

Brennan sat down across from Booth and took the baby form him. Holding Dana exactly the correct way, she started to feed Dana from the bottle.

"Bones, did you-"

"Test it? Of course, Booth. I'm not an idiot; I wouldn't give a baby in my care too hot a bottle. Or too cold, for that matter."

"Oh. Okay, then."

Booth began to eat his own dinner. When he was finished, he took Dana from Brennan to burp her. It was an interesting task, for the baby may have had just a little too much of that formula. The second she had been passed to Booth, she spit up…all over Booth's shirt (and tie!).

"Oh, Bones!" he moaned.

"What? It's not my fault," she protested.

"I know. It's just…icky."

"Icky?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah…icky. It's icky."

"Okay, Booth. Let me take the baby-" she did so- "and the burp cloth-" also taken-" and I'll burp her, you go change."

"Okay. But, Bones, you haven't gotten to eat."

"I'm fine. I'll eat after the baby if taken care of."

"Are you sure?"

"Very." And Brennan started to burp the baby adeptly.

"Oh…kaaayyy." And Booth left the room.

"Isn't he a silly guy? And he calls me silly. That's funny, isn't it? Isn't it? Yeah, that's funny," she cooed to the child in her arms.

But Booth, deciding to only take off his shirt and tie, and not replace them, was standing watching her. "Well," he said softly, "I'm glad you find me such an amusement, Bones."

"Oh! Stop sneaking up on me!"

"I'm not. You're just very absorbed in what you do."

"I'm sorry."

"That's not a bad thing."

"Oh. Okay."

Hey, give me that girl. I want to hold her, and I don't think she'll blow this time."

"Okay." And the baby was passed.

"Bones?"

"Yeah?"

"About what happened earlier…in the kitchen…"

"Booth, don't. I'm really sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that, but I just…"

"No. Don't be sorry. I mean, unless you didn't like it. Because, then, you should be sorry. Or I should be sorry. Or maybe…"

"I liked it," she whispered." I was just worried you didn't."

"Oh, trust me, I liked it."

"Oh. Okay. So what does that mean?"

"Whatever we want it to, Bones."

**I know, I know. Just review though. Please!!!!!! Loveyou!!!!! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Guys, this story already has 72 reviews. OhmiBooth I'm so happy. My other stories only have, like, 20 or less. Thank you. I was inspired by reviews. Hey, don't you know by now that I don't own Bones?**

"Whatever we – oh!" It suddenly registered in Brennan's mind that Booth was shirtless, hence the gasp.

"What?" he teased.

"What? Oh, nothing."

"Nothing? Then why are you as red as a rose?"

"As red as a – I'm not, am I?"

"Yup."

"Well, it's just, you… you don't have a shirt on."

"I knew that, Bones," Booth replied with a chuckle.

"Well, yeah, but after the –" and of course, Brennan was cut off by a screech from the baby in her arms.

"The child," they said in perfect unison.

"What do you think she wants, Booth?" Brennan inserted as an afterthought.

"She might need to be changed again, Bones," he said thoughtfully, then shot a wink her way. "Good luck!" he cried before moving to dash out of the room.

"Oh, no you don't. I did the last one. Your turn," she scolded, grabbing his arm to hold him back.

"How are you doing that, Bones?"

"Doing what?"

"Holding the baby and my arm at the same time!"

"Oh, simple. Look."

So he did, and was amazed at how beautiful and … natural she looked. 'Damn!' he thought. 'She looks like a mom!'

And one might say she did, indeed, "look like a mom." She had Dana settled on her hip, neatly settled in one crooked elbow so she didn't slip. This pose left Brennan with one free hand, the hand she had used to grab Booth. Thankfully, Dana had stopped crying.

But then something else occurred to him. "Bones, you're going to mess up your spine if you do that."

"What? No I won't!"

"Yeah, you will. See, you've got all your weight and Dana's on your one hip, so that's going to mess up your back," he countered, proud of being scientific – and correct – in front of Miss Science herself.

"Oh. Okay. Then here –you take her!" Brennan said, happily handing off the baby to her partner.

"Wha—Bones!" She shot him a Look. "Okay," he muttered like a young boy.

After the diaper was changed (uneventfully), Booth returned to the living room to find Brennan sitting on the sofa. She looked so relaxed; he decided not to bother her after all. 'We'll give the baby a bath tomorrow,' he thought conclusively. 'And I'll just put her down now. That way, Bones can rest.'

So her entered the nursery and gently sat in the one item in the room resembling a rocking chair. He started to hum softly to the baby. When he was sure she was asleep, he gently stood and walked to crib slowly. He lowered her into the crib and whispered "Good-night." As he exited the room, it shocked him how much he already cared about this baby.

Brennan stood in the living room, watching him. "Why didn't you tell me you could sing?" she demanded quietly.

"Um…because I can't?"

I heard you singing to Dana."

"Oh. That. That was nothing."

"Okay, if you say so. Anyway, uh, you're still not wearing a shirt."

"Bones?"

"Hm?"

"When have I had time to put a shirt on?"

"Good point. I just don't think that, in light of what happened in the kitchen earlier, you should be walking around with no shirt."

"What? You're worried you'll attack me again?" he teased.

"What? No! I didn't attack you! What?"

"Relax, Temperance. I know you didn't attack me. I'm just teasing."

"Oh…you called me Temperance."

"That's your name, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but you've always called me Bones."

"Well, I think Temperance is a pretty name, and I'm going to call you by it."

"Okay, Seeley."

"Hey, wait a minute!"

"What? If you call me Temperance, I call you Seeley. It's fair!"

"You're right, Temperance."

"Of course I am, Seeley."

Neither one of them noticed until this point that they had both crossed the room and were now inches away form each other. Booth –SEELEY suddenly leaned in, kissing Temperance Brennan for the third time and closing the distance between them for the umpteenth.

**Wow...dramatic. I love you guys soooo much. Happy Holidays! Review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Happy Holidays. Here's a chapter without the child herself. BTW, in the last chap. where Bren is holding the baby on her hip and botoh tells her she's going to mess up her back, that's how I hold my siblings (they're all young) and my grandma always tells me I'm going to screw up my back. So, I had to add that. Bones is on my Xmas list, but I don't currently own it. Boohoo.**

Several long moments later, when they pulled apart, Brennan gasped.

"What, Temperance?"

"Nothing, I just—wow."

"Yeah?" Seeley chuckled.

"Yeah," she sighed.

"So… if that was wow, what's this?" he asked, scooping her up and carrying her into the bedroom with the big bed. He deposited her onto the bed, her soft laughter filling the room.

"That's…wow, too," she teased.

"Oh, really? Well, what'll it be when we put this big bed to use?"

Temperance gasped. "Seeley, we…we couldn't. Could we?"

"Do we want to? I mean, do you want to, because I know I do."

"Well, yes, of course I want to, but shouldn't we ait for a bit?"

"And as much as I know you're right, I can't help but really want to not wait."

"Well, I don't really want to wait either."

"So, if you don't want t wait, and I don't want to wait, are we waiting?"

She took a deep breath. "Well…yes, we are. Because, Seeley, if we rush this too much, then we run the risk of not having a very strong relationship. And I really want to have a strong relationship. Which, right now, we do, because we were friends before this, and partners before that. We know each other really well, and that's what I think is a strong relationship. That, and I'm really happy just knowing that you're here with me."

"I'm happy too, Temperance. And I think that you're absolutely right. And I also think that it's worth exercising self control to have a strong relationship with the woman I love."

Temperance gasped. "You – you love me?"

"How could I not, Temperance?"

"Seeley, I love you too."

"Good, because I kind of just bared my heart, and I'd love for you to feel the same way."

"I just said, I feel the same way, Seeley!"

"I know."

"So…where does this put us?"

"In a relationship. In love."

"I like that."

"I thought you would. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I'm also incredibly tired."

"Me, too."

"Good night, Temperance."

"Good night, Seeley."

And they both had very sweet dreams.

**Make my Christmas...review? Happy holidays. Watch Santa in the Slush tonight on Fox!**


	9. Chapter 9

_**AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't updated in forevereverever! Sorrysorrysorry. Okay, here we go: XOXOX How was everyone's Vday?**_

_"Seeley! Look at me, not her! SEELEY! This is for us!" He jumped in front of the bullet for his partner. _

_"BOOTH! BOOTH!" She was kneeling over him. He couldn't die. He couldn't. It was impossible. She picked up the gun and shot over her shoulder as the gun was aimed at her again. Her attention turned back to her partner, she started again: "Booth! Booth! Booth!" But his eyes slowly closed, and she…_

…She woke up with a jolt. She was breathing heavily. Her mind raced around, trying frantically to place what had just happened into a category. She hadn't had that dream in months! A horrible thought crossed her mind.

She gently stretched her hand to the right. When her fingers brushed his, she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Withdrawing her fingers from his, she gently rolled over on her side and placed her feet on the bare floor. Shivering at the quick chill the wood panels sent through her, she hurried to the closet. Slipping into a robe and slippers, she marveled at her sleeping partner…boyfriend…guy-she-kissed-last-night-and-wasn't-sure-where-that-put-them sleeping soundly.

When she was sufficiently dressed, she slipped out of the room. After checking on the baby, who was sleeping (all very well, she had been awake practically all night!), Brennan walked into the kitchen. After filling the coffee pot with water, she rooted around in the fridge of groceries Sweets had provided.

So, that was how she looked when Booth walked into the kitchen. Hair mussed, in a bathrobe, bending over to look for food. Suddenly, she straightened. "Aha!" She triumphantly held up a package of raw bacon to accompany her battle whisper.

"Bones?" Booth asked, poorly trying to hide his laughter. She whirled around guiltily, as though she had been caught plotting assassination instead of trying to make breakfast.

"Ah…hi, good morning, hi, Booth!" she cried embarrassedly.

"Hi, Bones. Good morning. How'd you sleep?"

"Um…I slept…ah, fine, thanks for asking. And, ah, you?"

"Great. I, ahem, heard someone in the kitchen and came to investigate."

"Well—" Luckily, that sentence was cut short by a wail from the other room.

"Hold that thought, Bones. And, while you're at it, could you, like, cook the bacon?" Booth asked, walking out of the room.

"Well!" Brennan whispered, her cheeks becoming steadily rosier. Her heart felt like the high school marching band snare drum. She looked down at the bacon in her hand and whispered to it, "Well!" She went to find a pan to fry the food in.

When Booth came back in with Dana in his arms, he found "his" Bones frying the bacon. She looked…domestic. He suddenly and inexplicably pictured her as a mother, doing the same thing she was doing now, but with two or three toddlers hanging off her legs. Strangely, he liked the thought. It was interrupted shortly, however, by Dana starting to fuss again. He quickly prepared a bottle and went to feeding her. When Brennan came into the living room with a plate of bacon, eggs, and a cup of coffee, he gratefully accepted it. She sat down next to him and they ate in silence for a few minutes.

"What's going to happen?"

"What?" Brennan was startled at the sudden noise.

"I mean, with us. We… you know, we kissed yesterday. We said some things, and I meant what I said, but…" He trailed off, confused and sheepish. He sounded like a foolish high schooler again. He looked up when he heard Brennan laughing.

"Booth, I meant what I said, too."

"Good. That's very comforting."

"It is, isn't it?"

He laughed. "That's what I just said!"

"I know," she replied sweetly. Then her face took on a serious look. "Your line," she gasped by way of explanation.

"Three words: Screw. The. Line."

"Okay…" It was obvious that the meaning was lost on Brennan.

"Forget the line. _Olvide__ la __línea__. _Leave the line in the dust."

She giggled. "That last one was six words."

He looked at her long and hard, as though he were memorizing her. Then he leaned forward and his lips brushed hers softly. They stayed like that, barely touching for a minute, and then broke apart slightly, grinning at each other like they had won the lottery in tandem.

**Review? Please? I might not be such a terrible updater anymore! PS extra surprise spoiler to my first review even though it might not be right when you review.**


	10. Author's Note Important

HOLY MACAROL-Y-O! (Sorry, 13 reference there.) I haven't update in FOREVER! But I WILL SOON! I PROMISE! SO… Read my songfic I just posted? Will update SOON!

**_RUTH...I WISH!_**


	11. Chapter 10

**Ahhhh!!!!!!!!! I'm updating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally. Okay, you know the drill. No, Bones is not mine. I never claimed it was and if it was...I can name several people who would never have made an appearance. Have fun with this and make what you will out of it. **

After an incredibly uneventful breakfast (Booth kept his shirt on this time, dang it!) Brennan took Dana into the living room to change her diaper while Booth took a shower. When he came out to take over baby duty, Brennan cleansed herself. And that's about all that happened that morning. Booth watched cartoons with the baby, Brennan made the bed. Normal, everyday, things…for a family.

Around eleven, Booth heard his name being called in the kitchen.

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?"

"Can we have a picnic for lunch?"

"Sure, Bones. Sounds like a plan."

"Okay."

So, at their picnic a little ways away from their cottage—because that's what it was, whatever BS Sweets wants to give them.— Booth mentioned something that kind of shocked Brennan.

"So…what do you think about this baby's name? Because I can't stand it!"

"Well, we can't exactly change it."

"Then we give her a nickname."

"You can't make a nickname out of Dana, Booth. It doesn't work."

"What if we called her Dani?"

"That's for Danielle."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"You really want to give her a nickname?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we'll call her Dani."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Dana—Dani, I guess—had nothing to say about any of this except the natural baby gurgles that really are so endearing.

"Um…Bones, the food's gone. Should we go back to the house-thing?"

"'House-thing'? No, you didn't look in the basket."

"Look in the—Oh, my—Bones."

"What?" she said fake-innocently.

"You made pie."

"Oh! Yeah."

"Thank you," he said, reaching over to lay his hand on top of hers.

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile that radiated utter tenderness and admiration, the kind you don't even know you have until you meet the only one that you could ever share it with.

As Booth ate his pie, Dani/Dana dozed off on the blanket and Brennan just watched him…

**Mwahahahahaha. Yeah, I got sick of the name and I couldn't very well change it, so I did that. Sorry. So...review? I'm trying to get back in the swing of this, and now that school is out for the summer, I have more time. Okay, so, thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading this and tolerating me. Also, just posted another songfic. (Hodgela.) Luvs and kisses and XXXs and OOOs.**


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